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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

' W. B. SEARS & J. O. MATHEWS.

- DUMPING GAR. No. 3033757. Patented Aug. 19. 1884..

Inuenfot's 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. B. S-EARS & J. G. MATHEWS.

DUMPING OAR.

No. 303,757. Patented Aug. 19, 1884.

(No Madel.)

i F 2 g I s ZIII/I/Il N. PETERS. PnmoLflhognpher. wahin um D. c.

' NiTEn (STATES PATENT @rrrcin.

WILLIAM B. SEARS, OF EAST SAGINAYV, AND JOHN G. MATHEWS, OF DE TRO'IT,MICHIGAN; SAID MATHEWS ASSTGNOR TO SAID SEARS.

DUMPlNG-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,757, dated August19, 1884. Application filed February 7, 183a. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.- Be it' known that we, WILLIAM B. SEARS andJ011w G. Mli'rnnws, native citizens of the United States, residing,respectively, at East 5 Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw,and atDetroit, in the county of WVayne, all in the State of Michigan, haveinvented a new and useful Dun1p-0ar, of which the following is aspecification.

The objects of our invention are to secure the discharge of the entireload without changing the body-framing, draw gear, brake-gear, ortrucks, or the general construction of the cars new in use on Americanrailroads, and to arrange the car so that the entire load will be dumpedbetween the rails.

The invention consists in the arrangement of the flooring of the car,the addition of suitable dropdoors, and suit-able mechanism 20 forclosing, securing, and releasing the dropdoors, as will be fully setforth in the detailed description, drawings, and claims forming thisspecification.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is 5 2 5 a top plan view of the car, with part of the flooringremoved to show more clearly the end drop-doors and mechanism foroperating the same. Fig. 2is avertical longitudinal section v on lines XX of Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line Y Y ofFig. 2. Fig; 4 is a vertical cross-section on line Z Z of Fig. 2. Fig. 5is an enlarged vertical crossseetion of the sheaves and liousin g 011line V V of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal 5 section of thesame on line T T of Fig. 5.

In the several views, S S are the side sills, I I the intermediatesills, C C the center sills, all running lengthwise of the car,and DDare distance pieces or stiffeners running across 0 between the aforesaidsills, all in connection with the body-bolsters B B, which run acrossunder and sustain the longitudinal sills and the end sills, E E, towhich the ends of the longitudinal sills are mortised and tenoned, form4 5 'ing the body-framing of the car.

To the underside of the body-bolsters B B are secured any suitable formof center plates and side bearings, through which the ear-body rests ontwo bogie four-wheel trucks of any 50 desirable form now used.

To the outside of the side sills, S S, any number of stakes S S aresecured, to the inside of and against which the side boards, S, aresecured, with their lower edges resting 011 top ofthe side sills, S S.The end boards, E E, run across and rest on all the longitudinal sillsin turn, and their ends are firmly secured to the ends of the sideboards, S, by sheet-iron eorner-pieees, E E. The side and end boardsform the sides and ends of the box that retains the load on the car.

In the ordinary construction, extending be tween the stiffeners D D,lengthwise of the car and across the ear between the side sills, S S, isa hopper, which will be designated as the cen tral hopper, which isformed of the inclined floors H H and H H, which are supported by thesuspension-bars h h h h, the ends of which are turned over the sidesills, to which they are secured. The upper ends of the inclined fioorsHH and H H rest against the side sills, S S, and the stiffeners D D. Atthe bottom of the hopper is an opening provided with two drop-doors, MM, to which are attached chains M M. These chains are carried up andattached to the winding-shaft \V, which runs across and rests on thelongitudinal sills. The ends of the winding-shaft w pass through theside boards, S S, one end passing through a winding-shaft plate, w,which is secured to the side beard and side sill. The end of the barprotruding beyond this plate is made square, and passes through thewinding-shaft ratchet 10. To the square end of the shaft, whichprotrudes through the ratchet, aremovable crank is adj usted, and theshaft is revolved, which in turn winds up the chains M M, and raises thedoors M M, thus closing the opening at the bottom of the center hopperto retain the load. Attached to the windingshaft plate are the pawl 11and the dog 1;, which engage with the ratchet w, and secure thewinding-shaft and drop-doors from unwinding and opening.

If, in addition to the construction so far described, a flat floor islaid on the longitudinal, sills extending end sills, E E, the resultwould be a car exactly corresponding to the well-known hopper-bottomgondola now extensively used,

from the stiffencrs l) D to the in which only that part of the loadresting vertically over the central hopper discharges itself, whilenearly one-half the entire load remains resting on the flat floor, andmust be shoveled down through the hopper. The invention hereinafterdescribed and claimed, however, replaces the flat floors at either endof the car, and, in combination with the cen- 'ter hopper, allows theentire load to discharge itself.

I11 the anthracite-coal trade, for which this invention has been moreespecially designed and perfected, it is absolutely necessary that theentire load shall fallbetween the rails into the trestle-pockets.

To deflect or discharge that part of the load resting vertically outsideof the rails so that lhe same will fall between the rails, inclinedfloors F F, extending from the center hopper each way to the end of thecar, are substituted for the original horizontal flooring. The outerends of this flooring rest against the sides, S S, of the body, and, ifdesired, on suitable timbers, S S, Fig. 3, which in turn rest on theside sills. The inner ends of these inclined floors rest ontheintermediate sills, I I, Fig. 8, and slightly overlap the same.

The only available space between the bodyframing through which the loadcan be dumped is between the intermediate sills, outside of the centersills, and between the body-bolsters and the end sills, the spacebetween the center sills being obstructed by the drawgear, and theopenings between the body-bolsters and stiffeners being too small to beof practicable value for dumping purposes. All the unavailable spacesand the center sills and bodybolsters which are obstructions aretherefore covered by inclined flooring F F and F F, and by continuingthe end inclined floors, H H, of the central hopper'up to form ajunction with the inclined floors F F over the ridgetiinbers R It. Thelower edge of the inclined floors F F rests on and slightly overlaps thesaddle-blocks B B, which rest on the bodybolsters B B and extend fromthe intermediate to the center sills. The inclined floors F F extend theentire length of the car and rest on cross pieces 0, Fig. 4, the loweredges slightly overlapping the outside edges of the center sills. Acrossthe top of these inclined floors are secured step-saddles K K. The topedges of these step-saddles are rounded or beveled, so as to deflect theload off to either side onto the inclined flooring, which in turn willdeflect it into the openings when the drop-bot toms are released. Thesestep-saddles are for the purpose of furnishing train-men a foothold inpassing over the car in the discharge of their duty when the car isempty.

Suitable drop-doors, m m, are hinged to bars 0 0, the inner ends ofwhich rest in a notch in the top of the saddle-blocks B B, the outerends resting in similar notches cut in the top of the end sills, E E.The drop-doors are preferably constructed of oak, with U-straps Upassing around the bars 0 and on each side of the doors, andfirmlysecured to the same by through-bolts. The drop-doors shut close upagainst the overlapping inclined floorsginwo which slight recesses arecut to admit thEU straps, so that by setting the bars 0 0 close upagainst the bottom of the overlapping floors the doors, when closed,will fit tight up, so as to safely retain the load. The belt that passesthrough the end of the center U strap of each door is an eyebolt, and toit are attached chains G G, Fig. 1, which pass up over sheaves NN, Figs.5 and 6, that are inelosed in housings N, Figs. 5 and 6. These housingsare cast in one piece, and rest directly on and extend across bothcenter sills, C G, the center inclined floors, F, being cut away toadmit them. They are covered by deflecting-blocks L L, Fig. 1, whichprevent any part of the load lodging on the top of the housings. Thechains are then carried around the sheaves 1, Figs. 5 and 6, to theequalizer Q, Fig. 1. From the centerof the equalizer rods A run towardthe center of the car. To the end of these rods winding-chains J Fig. 1,are attached. The chains are in turn attached to the center of thewinding-shaft IV in such a manner that in revolving the shaft to closethe drop-bottoms of the central hoppers the end drop-botto1ns, m m, willbe simultaneously closed and secured.

Part of the chains G, the equalizers Q, therods J are all covered A, andthe winding-chains and protected by the inclined floors F, so that theload does not rest on or interfere withthe free working of the same. Allthe strains on the sheaves are carried by the housings, and neutralizeeach other, except the downward resulting strain resisted directly bythe center sills and the longitudinal strains which are re sisteddirectly by the opposite housing through the inclined floors F, whichact as braces or distance-pieces, and, in addition, as covers for themechanism, and deflect the load from over the center sills into thecenter hopper.

It will be readily perceived that this invention relates wholly to thebody of the ear, and can be used in a four-wheeled gondola-car asreadily as in an eight-wheeled car; that the entire floor of the carconsists of hoppers with suitable drop-bottoms to close the openings;that all such drop-bottoms being connected with the same centerwinding-shaft are simultaneously closed, secured, and released by oneoperation, and that part of the hoppers discharge part of the loadbetween the end of the ear and the truck center or body-bolster.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. In a dump-car, the combination,with the center hopper extending fromone body-bolster to the other, of hoppers restingupon the bodyframing ofthe car, and side bolsters, S S, with hinged drop-doors m m, extendingfrom the body-bolsters to the end sills, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

2. In adump-ear, the combination of the inclined floors F F, theinclined floors F F, the hinged drop-doors m m, the body-bolsters IIO '5 between the ends of the car and the body-bolsters and between theintermediate sills out-,

side of the center sills, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

3. In a dump-car, the combination of the in- 10 clined floors F F, theinclined floors FF, the

I 5 so as to securely retain theload, substantially I car ends E E, andthe hinged drop-doors m m, all arranged so that the drop-doors will shutup under and against the lower edge of the perpendicular car ends andinclined floors,

as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a dump-car, the combination of the winding-shaft W, placed acrossthe car, the ratchet w,the pawl p, the hinged end drop-bot- 20 toms, mmm m, which extend from the bodybolsters to the end sills, the rods A,chains G, and chains .I, whereby all the drop-bottoms are'"simultaneously operated, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

5. In a car constructed substantially as de- 2 5 scribed, thecombination of drop bottoms 'm, hinged to bars 0, the ends of which lieon the end sills, and blocks placed on the bodybolsters, chains G,housings N, sheaves inclosed in the housings, the equalizers Q, rods A,and chains J, all operating as and for the purpose set forth.

6. A car having the entire floor eomposedof hoppers with suitablestep-saddles placed on the inclined floors thereof, substantially as and3 5 for the purposes set forth.

7 In a dump-car, the saddle-blocks B B, in combination with the doorspnm, rods 0 O, straps U U, and notches cut in the end sills andsaddle'bloeks to retain the ends of the bars 0 O O, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

WILLIAM B. SEARS.

, JOHN G. MATHEWS.

Witnesses:

ALFRED \V. NEWTON, EDWIN SAUNDERS.

